


Tales of Lethbridge-Stewart: The soldier and The Doctor

by Pearlislove



Series: Kate Stewart Appreciation Week 2017 [5]
Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who & Related Fandoms, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Bittersweet, Fluff, Gen, Kate Stewart Appreciation Week, Platonic Relationships, Sickfic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-16
Updated: 2017-11-16
Packaged: 2019-02-03 09:21:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,110
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12745506
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pearlislove/pseuds/Pearlislove
Summary: Kate Stewart falls ill, and The Doctor take care of her.





	Tales of Lethbridge-Stewart: The soldier and The Doctor

**Author's Note:**

> Kate Stewart Appreciation Week Day 5
> 
> Theme: Favourite non-romantic Kate Stewart relationship dynamic

  
  
"Fancy a walk before I leave?" The Doctor smiled at Kate, gesturing out the door.  
  
Kate wanted to say no. She hadn't slept for well over twenty-four hours and her back and knees burned with pain at even the tiniest motion, making a walk the most ill suited thing she could possibly do at that moment. And yet, Kate smiled and nodded. "Sure, why not?" She shrugged, immediately regretting it as pain shot up her neck. She shouldn't have said yes, but this was The Doctor, and Kate would never say no to The Doctor.  
  
Trying not to give away the level of pain she was in, Kate managed to manoeuvre herself into standing position with some difficulty. Her first few steps away from the support of the plush chair were shaky, but The Doctor didn't seem to notice and soon Kate was moving along confidently at her normal brisk pace.  
  
Every part of her hurt, but it somehow felt worth it to spend some time alone with The Doctor. She could see him glancing over at her and giving her little smiles as they walked, and she smiled right back at him. It felt comfortable and familiar and no matter how hard the consequences would be Kate knew she would not be able to find it in her to regret her decision.  
  
Opening the door, the fresh air outside was a shock to Kate's system, and she stumbled, over come by a sudden and intense dizziness.  
  
"Kate!"  
  
She could hear The Doctor calling for her, but she couldn’t answer him. Her field of vision had been reduced to a multi colored blur and she was desperately trying to stand still, but her balance was off and she stumbled onwards.  
  
"Kate, what's wrong?!" The Doctor sounded even more scared now, and Kate wished she could rescue him, but she couldn't find the words, her own panic only barely contained.  
  
A hand wrapped around Kate's arm, and as she tried to turn around to the person grabbing on to her, she felt her body giving in. Her vision turned black and she could feel her legs folding under her, pain burning up every part of her body as she fell.

* * *

  
The Doctor watched with concern as Kate stepped outside, sudden dizziness apparently overwhelming her as she started staggering forward  
  
His concern only grew as she didn't react to his words, calling for her and asking if she was alright. He's not quite sure what happened - she seemed fine for having just survived an alien apocalypse when he invited her for a walk - but now she was not fine at all.  
  
Seeing that she doesn't react to his yelling, he reach out and grab onto her arm. She's swaying back and forth, and he's scared she's going to fall and hurt herself.  
  
And thank god to that, he thinks, as she tries to turn towards him, only to have her eyes close and her legs give out instead. Her body falls towards the ground, and it is barely that The Doctor has the time to catch her before her head hits the pavement.  
  
He can feel his hearts beating hard in his chest, laboured breaths slipping out of his mouth as he struggled to lift the limp body of his friend, trying to hold her bridal style even though she was taller than him.  
  
Finally, The Doctor had gotten Kate in a somewhat stable grip, and could begin carrying her to the TARDIS, hoping desperately he'd be able to figure out what was wrong once he was there  


* * *

  
  
Slowly, as if rising from underwater, Kate could feel herself returning to conscious. Still exhausted, she weakly tried to lift one arm and hit it down against whatever surface she was resting on, testing her surroundings to make sure she was relativt safe.  
  
Soundlessly, her arm sank deep down into the soft material of a mattress, and Kate sigh with relief. Lying on a mattress normally implied a safer environment than if the surface was hard.  
  
Gathering up as much energy as she possibly could, Kate attempted to open her eyes. It was hard work, exhaustion and  the still present pain in her limbs trying to pull her back under. She's almost given up, already slipping off into unconsciousness once more, when she hears a soft voice.  
  
It's weird, because she is sure that she hears nothing, but still, she can _hear_ a voice. It's echoing inside her head, and she can recognise the owner of the voice even if she does not know where it comes from.

 

_I hope you’re feeling good, sleeping beauty. Your values looked great, not that they wouldn't, but still. Some sleep and painkillers and nutrients and I’ll have you up on your feet in no time. Maybe you should have less coffee in the future though. But it doesn’t matter. As long as you get back on your feet coffee is fine._

 

It’s a weird, tickling feeling that irks her as she hears him speaking - if speaking is what he is doing at all - and finally she feels as though she was motivation enough to open her eyes.  


Finally, actually opening her eyes, Kate was pleasantly surprised to find the lights dim enough that she would not have to squint.

 

She stared up a white ceiling, breathing a small sigh of disappointment to find that she had been unconscious long enough to have been moved to some kind of sickbay - UNITs, perhaps?

 

“Katie, you’re awake. How do you feel?” The Doctor’s voice - his real, tangible voice this time - speaks in her ear. She can feel a hand combing through her hair, soft fingers running through her blonde strands, occasionally stopping to massage her scalp instead.

 

Weakly turning her head to the side so she could face The Doctor, Kate Couldn't help but let out a low moan of pleasure. The sensation of The Doctor’s fingers against her scalp was heavenly, efficiently draining tension from her sore limbs and overworked muscles. She didn’t know how The Doctor knew that she loved being massaged on the head, but it was far too good for her to even care. As long as he continued, she’d happily let him keep that secret to himself.

 

Somewhere close by, she could hear The Doctor chuckling. “Your father always loved it when I massaged his scalp like this. Like father like daughter, it seems.” Slowly,The Doctor ducked down a little, and as Kate looked up their eyes met.

 

“Where...where am I?” Kate asked, her voice almost cracking as she spoke. Her throat felt like sandpaper and she coughed a little. “Wha...what happened?” The Doctor offered her a glass of water, urging her to drink, which she did. It helped moisturize her throat and she felt better almost instantly.

 

“First of all, you’re in the TARDIS medbay. Old girl likes looking after her own. Second, you fainted when we got outside. According to the TARDIS you haven’t eaten in a while. Or slept. Or drunk. Not any of those things that you humans need to do on a regular basis.” The Doctor’s forehead wrinkled, and he seemed concerned. “Tell me, Kate Stewart, why haven’t you taken care of yourself?”

 

Now, it was Kate’s turn to laugh. “You know why, Doctor. There was an invasion and some Sontarans and Ogrons and Judoon and oh wasn’t Jo Jones there too?” Kate laughed again, slowly starting to recall all that had happened in the last 72 hours. “Sleep, food and fluids were less important than to put it all right, and I’m sure you can agree?” She smiled, feeling happy despite all the energy her little speech had stolen from her.

 

“Yes, yes, for me! But you humans, you’re small and fragile and will break...” The Doctor paused, looking at Kate for a long while, before finally sighing. “Why are you so much like your father, Kate?” He whispered, his restless hands reaching up to fix with his bowtie. “Why oh why are you such a Lethbridge-Stewart?”

 

Kate swallowed, and lifted her head a little so she could study his face better. He looked so honest in his concern, heavy worry weighing down upon his shoulders. “Why do you always compare me to my dad? This is why I dropped Lethbridge.” She looks away abruptly, not wanting The Doctor to see the tears suddenly burning in her eyes.

  


She can hear The Doctor sighing beside her, and the hands are back massaging her scalp. “I don’t want to, Kate, but it is hard sometimes. I never met your mother, can’t tell if you look or act like her, and every time I see you UNIT is involved. All I can think of is your father... Of my time on Earth. On all those things I know you do not want us to associate you with.” He sighs again, and he press his fingers a bit harder against her skull. He sounds disappointed and shameful, as though he’s let her down, and it almost make Kate smile with the irony of it all.

 

“I only tell you not to because I do it too.” Kate said. Salt tears slid down her face and she doesn't dare looking him in the eyes. “I grew up idolizing him and...and I could never get it out of my head. That I should be like him. That people expected me like him.” She paused, trying to suppress the whining sound rising in her throat as she cried. She didn’t want to seem like a child, and least of all in front of The Doctor. “But no matter how far I run, I can’t escape my father’s ghost.” It is starting sounded like a Shakespearean monologue and Kate hated it, but in the end it was the truth of it all.

 

At first, The Doctor was silent. Kate’s Confession seemed to have surprised him, and he didn’t know what to say. Feeling increasingly tired, Kate watched, slowly starting drift off to sleep again in the peaceful silence.

 

Her eyes are just slipping closed, her mind drifting off to sleep, when The Doctor speak again. “Oh, Kate. What would your father think if he saw us now? So broken we are.” Kate feels a feather light touch against her cheek, with some effort manage to reopen her eyes. Sleep was calling, and she was aware soon it would not be a conscious choice anymore, but for what it was worth she intended to fight it as long as The Doctor was still by her side.

 

“He’d scoff.” Kate smiled. “And call us fools for thinking so highly of him that we think ourselves stupid in comparison. My father was never one to think highly of himself, and neither did he aware think other did.” Kate commented sadly, deeply wishing her father was still alive. Oh how he’d have scoffed at their conversation.

 

The Doctor sigh, moving up to stroke Kate’s hair. It made her feel like a child when he did it, but she didn’t complain. “You’re right, he would. He would also want me to say to you that no matter who you are being compared to, you are amazing. Always.”  there’s a softness in The Doctor’s eyes that Kate doesn’t recognize. It feels foreign in the action driven Doctor, and reminds her more of her father.

 

Maybe The Doctor wasn’t the only one who compared people to The Doctor, Kate thought.

 

“Well, he’d want me to tell you the same. You are amazing Doctor, even if you don’t always believe it yourself. There is nothing you can do that can make you be less good.” Kate smiles, and she wonders how long it’ll go on. Their conversation, endlessly circling with the same words being repeated over and over until they lost meaning.

 

They both loved her father

 

None of them will ever consider themselves as good as him

 

But what did it mean for them?

 

“Yes, but go to sleep now, Kate. You’re still weak from pushing yourself too hard...and I will stay here while you sleep. Nothing will happen to you. I promise.” The Doctor put a hand on her shoulder, pushing her back against the mattress, and Kate is too weak to resist. She leans back against the soft fabric, letting her eyes close as her mind drifted off into the land of dreams.

 

“Good night, Tiger”

 

For them, being the way meant an unlikely friendship. Maybe even a family like connection of some sort. The products of all that The Brigadier gave in his lifetime.

  
A Doctor and a soldier, just as it had always been.


End file.
